film

Beowulf to Hit Theatre Screens on Nov. 16, 2007

Beowulf logoIMAX Corporation, Paramount Pictures, Shangri-La Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that Beowulf, the latest film from Academy Award winning director Robert Zemeckis, the filmmaker behind such box office successes as Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, the Back To The Future series and What Lies Beneath, will be released domestically in IMAX® 3-D simultaneously with the motion picture's premiere in conventional theatres on Nov. 16, 2007. The film will be released internationally within three weeks of the domestic launch. Beowulf will be digitally converted into IMAX 3-D and re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® through IMAX DMR® (Digital Re-mastering) technology. Paramount Pictures will be the distributor of the motion picture to IMAX® theaters domestically, and Warner Bros. Pictures will be the distributor internationally.

Inspired by the 9th century English epic poem, Beowulf combines a digitally enhanced live-action filmmaking technology with an all-star cast that includes Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman and Angelina Jolie. Neil Gaiman (MirrorMask, the graphic novel Sandman) and Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction) adapted the legend for the screen.

"IMAX 3-D has enabled us to tell stories in a whole new way, and we are very excited to offer moviegoers a chance to experience Beowulf in this incredible format," said Robert Zemeckis. "IMAX lends itself to the incredible image detail in Beowulf and in 3-D, it will transport the audience directly into the story."

"IMAX has provided the world's most spectacular 3-D presentations for more than two decades, and as we continue to work with world-class organizations like Paramount Pictures, Shangri-La Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures on groundbreaking 3-D projects, we're reinforcing IMAX 3-D as the gold standard," said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. "Audiences loved the last IMAX 3-D release we did with Robert Zemeckis, so we're obviously very optimistic about the potential Beowulf holds for the IMAX theatre network."

"Our partners at Paramount Pictures, Shangri-La Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures have done a fantastic job of combining the 3-D savvy vision of Robert Zemeckis with a great cast, and we believe that moviegoers are going to love it in IMAX theatres," said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. "The unique geometry of IMAX theatres will enable audiences to feel as if they are actually in the movie as they experience it in IMAX 3-D."

The story
The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel who is terrorizing towns, and later, Grendel's mother, who begins killing out of revenge.

Cast
Angelina Jolie - Grendel's Mother (voice)
Brendan Gleeson - Wiglaf
Anthony Hopkins - King Hrothgar
Crispin Glover - Grendel
Ray Winstone - Beowulf
John Malkovich - Unferth
Robin Wright Penn - Queen Wealhtheow
Alison Lohman - Ursula
Dominic Keating - Old Cain
Sebastian Roché - Wulfgar
Greg Ellis - Garmund, Golden Man
Chris Coppola - Olaf
Nick Jameson - Drehgbearn
Alan Ritchson - Animated Image/Beowulf
Charlotte Salt - Estrith
Aaron Stephens - Beowulf physique
Leslie Harter Zemeckis - Yrsa
Rik Young - Eofor
Sharisse Baker-Bernard - Hild
Woody Schultz - Hengest
Nadine Stenovitch - Ensemble
Tyler Steelman - Young Cain
Shay Duffin
Emily Johnson - Maiden #12
Randy Shelly - Boy
John Littlefield - Thane #23
Tim Trobec - Thane #1
Richard Burns - Sentry Guard/Unferth Guard
Jacquie Barnbrook - Altheaborg
Chris Mala - Thane #5
Jared Weber - Thane #3
Kevin Dorman - Unferth Guard
Tom West - Thane #44

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Comic-Con Preview: 20 Minutes of Beowulf 3-D

Angelina Jolie in Beowulf 3-DIn late July, a movie theater full of film press packed a big digital theatre in downtown San Diego to watch 20 minutes of Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf. Screenwriters Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman were on hand to field questions following the screening. The screening started late because the theatre was at the end of a multi-level labyrinth they call an outdoor mall. Security was tight with no one allowed to take in a camera, iPhone or even digital audio recording device.

They began the screening with the movie trailer that is now online. Gaiman, in a Superman’s Dead t-shirt, told the crowd to put on their “magic beowulf glasses.” The lights went out and the trailer played in digital 3-D. It was definitely much better in 3-D. At one point the blood sprays off the screen at the audience, which is a cool effect.

Neil promises that Beowulf will be the biggest 3-D release ever, simutanously being shown in IMAX 3-D, Real D on digital screens and in normal Dolby. Avary talked about the 10 year journey from script to screen and gushed over how “It’s like somebody reached inside my brain” and put the images on screen. He jokingly explain that he wanted to make the film to make the story easier to understand for future generations of high school students.

They then showed the entire second reel of the film, which was almost 20 minutes in length.

“The reason why we’re showing you the second reel is because it’s the only thing that exists,” explains Gaiman, who says the rest of the film is just data. Gaiman explained the set-up of Reel #1. A hole has opened and a monster named Grendel has started eating people because he hates the noise. Beowulf comes across the sea with his huge group of men to battle the monster. He strips down and says he will fight the monster with no weapons. Beowulf nearly defeats the monster and that is where Reel #2 starts.

Gaiman said that “Beowulf is the oldest story in the English language.”

Avary added, “told with the most modern technology.”

The two have a comic chemistry. Avary is always stepping over Gaiman’s words and apologizing. Gainman offers quick quips in return.

Reel 2 begins with Beowulf kicking the cut off arm of Grendel. It’s instantly impressive. The animation in Beowulf’s face, and the skin imperfections is the most realistic human facial animation to date. But you still have that weird motion capture movement. Which I’ve always found really odd since logically motion capture should result in more realistic movement, right? But instead you get some very robotic movements at times. This is not to say that Beowulf isn’t a vast improvement over Final Fantasy and The Polar Express, because it is. The technology is unfortunately not there yet. However, the 3-D technology is absolutely amazing.

Beowulf and crew return to be rewarded by the King. Grendel’s mother attacks the town and Beowulf is pissed that he was never told about the mother. The king looks exactly like a digital copy of Anthony Hopkins, which asks the question (which was asked later) why do all the work involved in motion capture animation if you’re just going to give the actor the same look? This is one of the reasons that Pixar is so successful. They hire the actors purely based who would be a better fit for the character.

Beowulf enters the watery cave alone. This is the scene from the trailer where Ray Winstone’s character wades through the water in the dark cave. He finds a cavern full of treasures and yells “show yourself!” and “What are you!?” A tail quickly flew by the foreground. “Are you the one they call Beowulf” Finally we see the monster. The monster is basically Angelina Jolie with a long ponytail that turns into a dragon-like tail. She rises up from the water and it’s very clear that Angelina Jolie is very nude (except slightly covered up). Everyone was in awe at how real and hot she looked. “What do you know of me demon!?” “Under your armor you are as much a monster as my so Grendel.” She strokes his sword in a very sexual way explaining that it’s been a long time since a man has visited her. He hand melts his sword. She offers Beowulf a deal that would make him the greatest and longest living king to ever live. The clip ends with them kissing.

Gaiman says that’s the genius of Robert Zemeckis, before taking questions from the crowd.

“What do you want to know? We will answer or we will lie!”

He confirms that the film was 100 percent motion capture: “They wore those suits all those dots on them, looking much like the cast from Tron.”

Avary explained that the motion capture technology allowed Bob to do full takes without any cuts which translated into some incredible performances: “That’s performance capture. It’s digitally enhanced acting.”

Someone asks the question, "Why do the motion capture and animation if you just want the characters to look like the actors that portray them." Gainman explains that Beowulf doesn’t, which I think was a lame answer. He saw that the aging of Beowulf in the film would not be possible without this technology. He then makes a good point: “If you have John Malkovich or Anthony Hopkins, why not?” He wondered out loud how the Academy will react. Will digital versions of actors get award recognition?

Roger explained that he grew up loving Legend and Excalibur, and that Beowulf was the one story he connected with in High School. It hit him that no movie was ever made of the story and put it on his list of ideas. Then when Avary was fired from the big screen adaptation of Gainman’s Sandman “for being too honest about his intentions and ideas”, he studied the story again and asked Gaiman to co-write the film with him,

Avary compares the story of Beowulf with the game of telephone. The resulting story has more than a few plot holes which forced him to be creative to cover up. Neil and Roger wrote the script in a two week stretch in Mexico in May 1997, while drinking bad Mexican beer by a pool, passing floppy discs between them. Zemeckis read the script and for years wanted Avary to direct it, but eventually took on the task himself.

They joked that the original dragon fight was very talky and lacked much action because they wrote it with a small budget in mind. Zemeckis hired them to rewrite the film and encouraged them to “go wild”.

Gaiman also confirmed that they are aiming for a PG-13 rating despite the violence, blood and previously discussed nudity of Angelina Jolie. I’m wondering if they can pull this off. He reiterated the previous statement that they are planning to release an unrated version on DVD at some point.

Avary praises Zemeckis for having a writers mind and having the creative collaborative excitement that some directors lack.

Gaiman describes the footage: “For me it felt like wandering around in a graphic novel.”

He sad that the technology is getting better every day and this may be the bet way to do Sandman, whenever that actually happens. He praised the 3-D technology as being a revolution for cinema. “This will actually be a reason to go to the cinema again.”

They then showed a teaser which showed quick cuts of all the cool moments from the reel and trailer.

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